1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the use of laser lights in medicine and, more particularly, is concerned with a hand-held laser light generator device for use in medical therapy.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Laser lights have a variety of applications. The term "laser" is an acronym for light amplification by estimulated emission of radiation. Thus, a laser is basically a device which generates and amplifies light, and does so in the form of an intense coherent beam. Typically, lasers generate such energy in the ultra-violet, visible, or infrared spectrum.
A laser employing helium-neon gas has been one of the most commonly-used and economical of all lasers. It has found applications ranging from construction alignment to laboratory research because of its ability to produce a beam having a power ranging from a fraction of a milliwatt to a few tens of milliwatts and a wavelength of 632.8 nanometers (nm) falling in the red color spectrum. A helium-neon laser is basically a gas-filled tube, with internal electrodes exciting the gas to emit light. Mirrors at each end of the tube define the laser cavity. One mirror is totally reflective, while the other one at the opposite end of the cavity transmits the fraction of the light that becomes the external laser beam.
One of the many diverse applications for helium-neon lasers is medical. Helium-neon lasers are used in several types of medical therapy, primarily so-called unconventional treatments such as laser acupuncture, bio-stimulation, stimulation of wound healing, and alleviation of pain. Helium-neon lasers are used by the more orthodox medical establishment in instruments which count cells by measuring light scattering and which measure other quantities of medical interest. They also have other medical-related uses, such as helping align persons in x-ray imaging systems.
Helium-neon lasers as well as other types of lasers that have been used heretofore in the aforementioned unconventional medical applications are large in size, have complicated controls and thus are difficult to maneuver and operate. These drawbacks have prevented these lasers from reaching their full potential in such medical applications and thus have impeded the widespread use and acceptance of lasers.
Consequently, a need still exists for a device which provides a solution to the aforementioned problems in the prior art without introducing any new problems in place thereof.